Mortgage activity remains strong in May

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The mortgage market showed further signs of recovery last month as approval levels and borrowing figures continued to climb.

According to new data released by the British Bankers' Association (BBA), lenders advanced a gross total of £8.6 billion to borrowers during May, compared with £8.1 billion in April 2013.

A higher number of applicants were successful in getting their mortgage applications signed off last month, with 65,752 purchase and remortgage approvals carried out at a total value of £8.9 billion.

On an annul basis, approval levels for house purchase applications rose by 24%, whilst 20,675 remortgage cases were approved reflecting a 17% rise from the same month in 2012. Increased numbers of approved mortgages saw the overall seasonal average advance value rise to £159,200, £3,000 higher than in April 2013.

In other areas of consumer finance, new spending on credit cards reached £7.8 billion during May, up from £7.6 billion the previous month, with consumers making over 122 million purchases on their cards.

Despite a rise in credit card borrowing, the value of new personal loans taken out last month remained at £1.3 billion.

Commenting on the findings, David Dooks, BBA statistics director, said: "New mortgage borrowing from the high street banks strengthened in May and approvals for both house purchase and remortgaging continued to rise.

"Unsecured consumer borrowing also saw a small net rise overall, in line with improved retail sales volumes."